explaining_errors_in_star_trekfandomcom-20200215-history
Necessary Evil
' |image= |series= |production= 40512-428 |producer(s)= |story= |script= Peter Allan Fields |director= James L. Conway |imdbref=tt0708570 |guests=Max Grodénchik as Rom, Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat, Katherine Moffat as Vaatrick Pallra, Robert MacKenzie as Trazko |previous_production=Rules of Acquisition |next_production=Second Sight |episode=DS9 S02E08 |airdate= 14 November 1993 |previous_release=(DS9) Rules of Acquisition (Overall) Attached |next_release=(DS9) Second Sight (Overall) Force of Nature |story_date(s)=47282.5 (2370/2365) |previous_story=(DS9) Rules of Acquisition (Overall) Force of Nature |next_story=(DS9) Second Sight (Overall) Inheritance }} =Summary= When Quark is shot, Rom admits to Odo that he and his brother had just retrieved a list of Bajoran names from the opposite side of a wall plate in a shop on the promenade. The information reopens an unsolved murder case for the shape shifter. During the Cardassian occupation, the shop with the hidden list belonged to a Bajoran named Vaatrik. Five years ago, Gul Dukat brought Odo to the station to investigate Vaatrik’s murder. At the time, Mrs. Vaatrik accused Kira Nerys of a crime of passion. Though admitting that she worked for the resistance, Kira claimed innocence. Instead, she confessed to sabotaging some ore-processing equipment on the station at the time of the murder. Interested only in finding Vaatrik’s killer, Odo let her go. =Errors and Explanations= Plot Oversights # After Quark is shot, Rom takes Odo to the shop where they found the list. Rom even offers to show Odo which panel they removed. That wouldn't be too hard! If you look in the background, you’ll see the panel is still off and all the flashing lights of the conduit are streaming through! It may not have been possible to put it back on the wall. # The Cardassians’ behaviour toward Odo is intriguing. He shows up in the Denorios Belt during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor (Emissary). Presumably the Cardassians knew of Odo’s existence early on. Yet, for some reason, they allowed a Bajoran scientist to work with him. This may have been attempt to prevent the scientist aiding the resistance. # When Odo left the research center, evidently no one complained. It seems that Odo is a life form with great potential. If you could unlock the secrets of his shape-shifting abilities, that knowledge might prove very useful. Instead, this episode has Gul Dukat bringing Odo to the station to investigate a murder when he could be shipping him off to Cardassia for further study. Or does the Obsidian Order have absolutely no interest in our friendly Changeling? Maybe they felt there was no way of learning anything they could exploit. # Supposedly Gul Dukat originally put Odo on the case of the murder of Vaatrik because Vaatrik was his link to a network of Bajoran sympathizers and Dukat didn’t want to be associated with the case. All fine and well. How ever, it appears that Odo never solved the case. So what does Gul Dukat do? He keeps Odo on as an investigator! Does this make sense? Yes! Odo’s impartiallity makes him ideal for the post. Changed Premises # Having assembled the names on the list, Odo disgustedly tells Sisko that they were all collaborators, that they were “selling out their home world for profit.” He goes on to say that even a Ferengi wouldn’t do that. Excuse me! l believe that Rule of Acquisition 6 states: “Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity” [[The Nagus].) l also believe that Rule 111 reads: “Treat people in your debt like family, exploit them.” (See Past Tense Part 1.) ln addition, Rule 102 reads: “Nature decays. Latinum lasts forever.” (see The Jem’Hadar.) Given these rules, does it seem likely that Ferengi would have some aversion to selling their home world for profit? Of course – If they sold their home world for profit, they would instantly be unable to conduct any other business, because 1) no one would want to conduct business with them – assuming they would be allowed to by whoever the world was sold out to, 2) their assets would probably be confiscated, and 3) they would most likely end up getting executed for treason! Equipment Oddities # At the beginning of the episode, Quark visits with Mrs. Vaatrik on Bajor. The room is romantically lit with candles, and she makes a passing comment that at least the Cardassians. Could keep the power on. Later Odo pays Mrs. Vaatrik a visit on Bajor as well. He notes that her power had been terminated for lack of payment He also informs her that he knows she transferred the necessary funds to the power company that morning. in other words, when Quark visited, the candles weren’t just for atmosphere; Mrs Vaatrik’s house didn’t have ant power. Oddly enough, when Quark leaves, the doors open and close! The doors must have an emergency back up power supply. # Possibly it happened before this episode, but Odo’s office has inherited a replicator. It sits in the cubby right behind Odo’s desk. Here’s what’s interesting. Some of the flashbacks in this episode are set in a room that looks just like Odo’s Security office, and the flashback room also has a replicator built into the wall of the cubby. Now, l know for sure that the replicator was not there for most of the first season. lf the room in the flashback is Odo’s current office, the Cardassians installed the replicator, somebody ripped it out, and O’Brien installed it again later. Another example of the Cardassians removing certain items during the withdrawal. # After the experience with Melora, Bashir must have chewed on O’Brien for not having any decent antigrav units available. ln Melora, Bashir had to replicate an old-style electric wheelchair for the gravity-challenged ensign to use because the standard antigrav unit wouldn’t work due to the Cardassian construction of the station. In this episode Bashir hollers for an antigrav lift to take Quark to the infirmary, and one shows up seconds later (And it looks like a Federation model ) They may have finally been able to adapt Federation antigrav units so they work on DS9. # Speaking of taking Quark to the infirmary, l wonder why Bashir didn’t have him beamed there. After all, the Enterprise beamed the away team directly to sick bay when Picard was shot with a compressed teryon beam in Tapestry (TNG). It may not be possible with the Cardassian transporter units built into the station. Continuity And Production Problems # To gain access behind the wall panel, Rom uses magnesite drops. Four bolts secure the panel to the wall. In order, Rom places drops on the up per left, upper right, lower left, and lower right. Soon the bolts spark and the panel falls off. Interestingly enough, the lower right bolt sparks before the lower left bolt even though Rom put the drops on the lower left bolt first. Maybe the lower right bolt was weaker than the others. # At one point Odo travels to Bajor to interview Vaatrik‘s widow. In the establishing shot you can see a coffee table that features a cylindrical pot. Both the lid and the body of the pot protrude horns that serve as handles. Isn’t this the same pot that Picard's faux wife in The Inner Light (TNG) used when she dished him out some supper? Wow! Now, that's weird! Could it be that the Bajorans visited the Kataan system before it's star went nova? Or it could just be a coincidence! Nit Central # Kathryn Ramage on Saturday, January 15, 2000 - 2:02 pm: In this episode, Odo, observing Kira's hands, says that she has never worked in the mines; Kira does not contradict him. But in Crossover, she claims that she worked in the mines as a child. Chris Thomas on Monday, January 17, 2000 - 3:06 am: Odo is observing that she doesn't work in the mines *presently* when looking at her hands and Kira knows she's been caught out because there's no dirt under her fingernails. Kathryn Ramage on Monday, January 17, 2000 - 12:08 pm: My understanding is that Odo is referring to an absence of scars, callouses, and other damage one would normally get from that kind of hard manual labor. And what he says is, "You haven't spent any time in the mines"--suggesting (to me anyway) not just recently, but ever. ''Chris Thomas on Tuesday, January 18, 2000 - 1:43 am:''I didn't read it that way - she may have got scars and callouses from other things. I saw it as an absence of grime being a telltale sign that she hadn't been in the mines recently. How do others see it? # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Wednesday, July 26, 2000 - 12:06 am:''So why didn't Pallra take the list with her when she left the station? She knew it was behind the wall. '''She may not have had time.' # I wonder if Odo's disgust about collaborators is really a bit of self-loathing since he himself collaborated with the Cardassians? TomM on Wednesday, July 26, 2000 - 3:10 am: I know that it is splitting hairs, but Odo may feel that, since he did not actively help in the war cause, or succor the Cardassians, and, in fact, did nothing that compromised his ethics or honor, that the fact that his job was a position of some authortity was irrelevant. Especially after the provisional government of Bajor, recognizing his "impartiality," kept him in his post, rather than attempting to indict him for war crimes. Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Thursday, July 27, 2000 - 1:06 am: I guess you didn't see the episode Things Past. Spockania on Wednesday, March 14, 2001 - 9:43 am: Actually, Odo may not consider himself a collaborator simply because he's not a Bajoran. He also seems to define "collaboration" as "selling out your homeworld for profit." Odo may have worked for the Cardassians, but I sincerely doubt he got rich doing it. # Anonymous on Monday, November 13, 2000 - 8:19 am: What happened after Odo refused to turn over Kira to Dukat? Did Dukat kill 10 random Bajorans, like he was threatening? Not very fair of Kira. Spockania on Wednesday, March 14, 2001 - 9:43 am: It's possible that Dukat didn't kill the 10 Bajorans because he wanted to isolate himself, just like why he asked Odo to investigate. I do think this would have been easy to clear up with a line of dialogue. # John A. Lang on Wednesday, October 15, 2003 - 8:46 pm: OK...Kira confesses to the killing....now what? JM on Wednesday, October 15, 2003 - 11:58 pm: The past stays in the past. John A. Lang on Thursday, October 16, 2003 - 7:44 am: If that's the case, Odo has a weird definition of "justice". Kira should be doing time in the Brig...or at LEAST a repremand of some kind. Brian Fizgerald on Thursday, October 16, 2003 - 9:20 am: She broke Cardassian law on a mission for the freedom fighters who now make up the Bajorian government, nothing is going to happen to her. Seniram Especially after her help in preventing the takeover by the Circle. # D.K. Henderson on Sunday, April 03, 2005 - 7:34 pm:''At the beginning, Pallra makes a comment about the Cardassians that "...at least they could keep the power on." Phil pointed out that later we find that her power had been cut for not paying her bill. It may be that she didn't want to tell Quark the real reason she was conducting business in the dark. Actually, I thought at first viewing that the storm was responsible for the lack of power. '''Perhaps she didn't need to pay for her power during the Cardassian occupation, and was disconnected because she was unable/unwilling to pay the - probably large and backdated - bill that she was given when the Bajoran’s took over!' # Odo says to Rom, "You're not as stupid as you look." Rom protests, but I think that Odo has a point. From being a man who "couldn't fix a straw if it was bent," Rom has changed in only a year to a man who can beat his brother's time at breaking into a shop, and has a quicker, more efficient method of cutting through the wall panel. (However, neither he nor Quark saw fit to keep the panel from banging on the floor. Not a good idea when conducting a theft.) Like Odo, I suspect that Rom hides his light under a bushel, perhaps because it's easier (and sneakier) to keep people underestimating him. Far from admiring his brother's skill, or even thinking of ways to exploit it, Quark simply says that he's going to change his own locking systems. Quark is having trouble accepting the truth about Rom. # Odo needs to train his security officers better. Quark was allowed no visitors, and yet anyone and everyone could just walk right in the door. The Security man should have been stationed outside the door, turning people away before they had any chance to get near Quark. Better yet, two guards, one inside and one out. And letting the assassin get that close to him! Very poor showing. Unless Dr. Bashir was able to perform another miracle, the man probably didn't have the opportunity to learn from his mistake. This could have been deliberate, to force anyone else involved to reveal themselves. # Unnecessary Weevil on Saturday, August 13, 2005 - 3:08 pm: So... Why didn't Mrs. Vaatrik cry when she hear her husband had died? They may have been estranged, Category:Episodes Category:Deep Space Nine